Inform Your Conscience, Vote Your Conscience

The following documents are used with permission by Fr. Lothar Krauth, the pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Great Falls.

“Health Mandate” and “War on Women”(by Fr. Lothar Krauth, Pastor) As part of new health care laws, the government has issued the mandate that all health coverage providers must offer, free of charge (no co-pay) a package including contraception, surgical sterilization, and abortion-causing pills (“Plan B,” the “morning-after-pill”), either directly or through their insurance. Significant numbers of such providers, including church-sponsored hospitals, universities, schools, and charitable institutions, have objected to this mandate, on the grounds of their conscience and moral teachings guiding them. Some of them have initiated law suits against this mandate, prominent among them the Catholic Church.Our public media have successfully distorted this situation. Leaving out the sterilization and abortion part, they focused on contraception, and primarily on the Catholic Church. They claim that the Church tries to deprive women of their contraception, and thus of needed health care, to the point of asserting that the Church is waging a “war on women.” Even if contraception is now considered “health care,” the truth is that contraception is readily available, for free at many clinics, for a few dollars at large pharmacies and department stores. The Church simply refuses to become a provider, and nobody is deprived of anything.At a Congressional hearing on the new health law, a college student claimed that she needs $ 3,000 a year for contraception, that she cannot afford that, and that she should not be deprived of this free health provision. Her testimony was flagrantly false. When a well-known news commentator called her bluff (“lie”), she felt offended. The US President made a phone call to her to console and support her. The “mandate” claims to make an exception for churches, but not for universities, hospitals, schools, charitable institutions, and similar entities that may be affiliated to a church, or may have their own moral objections to the mandate. The church exemption is very narrowly defined: only employees directly working in the ministry are exempt. In other words, only activities “inside the sanctuary” are exempt; if in the marketplace, religious or not, you have to comply. Objecting institutions are forced to act directly against their consciences and moral convictions. Such religious oppression is new and unique in US history. Non-compliance will bring heavy fines and judicial sanctions, probably putting an institution out of business. “Obey, or go away.”I grew up in the neighborhood of totalitarian communism. Churches there were tolerated as long as they stayed within the sanctuary. They were told, in so many words, “If you stay there, we’ll leave you alone. But you have no place in our society.” The government has given the affected institutions a year to figure out how to violate their consciences and satisfy the health mandate. These are the facts that have been lost, suppressed, or viciously distorted in the ongoing commentaries and media attacks, including our local newspaper. “War on women?” Hardly. What we face is a war on the Christian religion. Fr. Lothar Krauth, Pastor

THINK – PRAY – VOTE Every vote helps to determine the character of our society – moral or immoral, and what obligations are imposed on us – just or unjust. We have to vote our conscience that is informed by truth and reality, not slogans and fiction. The Church’s teachings are informed by Scriptural truth and moral reality.Human life, created by God, is sacred and to be respected. Abortion and euthanasia are moral evils (sinful) and must not be supported. How about my right over my own body? If you are found with illegal drugs, you will be penalized; so, your right over your own body is not absolute. You have no right over the life of another human being, neither unborn baby nor infirm adult. Corollary: embryonic stem cell manipulation and human cloning are immoral; they destroy human embryos.Marriage is not a human invention but a divine ordinance (“male and female He created them” Gen 1:27). This means that marriage is a sacred commitment between one man and one woman. Other forms of commitment may well be acknowledged by secular authority (same sex “marriage”), but must not be called “marriage.” Health Care Mandate: Within the context of the new “Affordable Care” laws, employers must pay directly or indirectly for surgical sterilization, abortion-causing drugs, and contraceptives, all considered immoral. No conscience clause to opt out is allowed, under severe penalties. Result: violate your conscience, or go out of business. Is my right to obtain contraceptives violated? No; they are readily available, often free of charge. But those who object to them should not be forced to pay for them.Slogan: we support “freedom of worship.” An insidious deception, meaning: as long as you pray in the confines of your church, and not go public, we’ll leave you alone; but you have no right to go public (shut down Christian media). This was practiced in most totalitarian, communist countries. In our country, we are guaranteed “freedom of religion,” a substantially different concept. It affirms the right to proclaim and practice your faith in the public marketplace (including Christian radio and TV).Politicians who support and even actively promote moral evils should not be given our vote.(Fr. Lou Krauth, Pastor)